Container for annular article



Oct. 11, 1960 1.. E. BACCHUS ETAL 2, 8

CONTAINER FOR ANNULAR ARTICLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1958 lsa (In I v INVENTORS LEW/S BACCHUS, V ALVIN L. H/LLEGASS and LEONARD E .SA/VSO/VE Jr. a, M11, $166;

I unn Ivwuu u uuuuu 2,955,738 CONTAINER FOR ANNULAR ARTICLE Lewis E. Bacchus and Alvin L. Hillegass, Gary, Ind.,

and Leonard F. Sansone, Jr., North Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pa., assignors to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New. Jersey Filed April 18, 195 8, Ser. No. 729,329 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-41) This invention relates to a polygonal shipping container suited vfor an annular article and to a blank of paper- 1 board having slits and creases therein to facilitate the forming up of the container therefrom and the enclosure of the article in the resulting container.

Annular articles or products such as hose or flexible conduit which are sold in coils, have posed a ditficult packaging problem for a variety of reasons. We have invented a novel polygonal container for such articles and a blank for forming it which can be made cheaply and easily. The object of our invention is to provide a strong, durable container, low in cost, which can easily be formed up and closed. Essentially our polygonal container consists of a series of tubular sectors trapezoidal in shape and of rectangular section, which are flexibly connected on the outer side. Alternate sectors telescope into the adjacent sectors on the inner side, whereby the tubular structure of the polygonal container may conform generally to the curvature of the article. The sectors are of two different types, and are reversely disposed alternately around the container, to permit such telescoping of the bottom, top and inner side wall panels.

Considering the container first as lying on its side,'

each sector is composed of a bottom, an outer side wall panel, an inner side wall panel and flaps extending from the side wall panels adapted to be bent down in overlapping relation, forming the top of the container as formed up. When formed up and closed, the container may he stood on edge or rolled on its periphery. The outer side wall panels of all sectors are integral, the stock being creased transversely between them, forming lines of flexure. The inner side wall panels have slits part way along their upper and lower edges to permit bending their end portions to conform to the curvature of the article.

A complete understanding of the invention may be ob- .tained from the following detailed description and we planation which refer to the accompanying drawings illustrating the present preferred embodiment. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view with parts broken away and parts folded back;

Figure 2 is a section taken along the plane of line II--II of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a partial plan of the developed blank from which the container is made.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, Figure 1 shows our polygonal container designated 10 composed of two types of trapezoidally shaped sectors 11 and 12 which alternate around the package. As shown, the ends of sectors 11 on the inner side of the container, telescope into the ends of adjacent sectors 12. That is to say, the bottom, top and inner side wall panels of each sector 12 enclose the ends of corresponding portions of sectors 11. The outer side wall panels 13 of both sectors are identical and integral. The paperboard of which the container is formed has creases at the junctions 13' between outer side wall panels 13, forming hinges which,

v United States Patent 2,955,738 Patented Oct. 11, 1960 ICC with the telescoping of the inner side wall panels, im-

' parts a flexibility to the container when formed up.

These hinges also permit the angular relation of the sectors necessary to the generally arcuate shape.

Considering one of the sectors 11, the bottom is a flap designated 14 and the inner side wall is a rectangular panel 15. Wallpanels 13 and 15 have flaps 17 and 18, bent down in overlapping relation. Each of sectors 12 has a bottom flap 14' and an inner side wall panel 15". Flaps 17 and 18' extend from wall panels 13 and 15', respectively. These latter flaps are bent down and secured by any desired means such as fluid adhesive, staples or adhesive tape.

In Figure 3, the dotted lines represent creases to facilitate bending the stock. The blank, designated 10', shown in Figure 3, has a tab 19 at one end adjacent the outer side wall 13, whereby a length of blank suflicient for forming acontainer of desired size may, when formed into a loop be closed on itself by suitable fastening, e.g., stapling, to provide a continuous ring. Figure 3 also shows slits between the inner side wall panels 15 and 15' extending away from their ends along the top and bottom, as indicated at 20, whereby the end portions of these panels 15a may be bent inwardly along creases 21, so as to conform more closely to the curvature of the article. In the finished container, these creases provide further be noted that the outer side wall panels 13 and inner side wall panels 15 and 15' are rectangles, while the bottom flaps 14 and 14' as well as flaps 17, 17, 18 and 18' are trapezoids. Sectors 11 and 12 are trapezoidal in plan, sectors 11 having their side of greater lengthin the inner side Wall and sectors 12 having their side of greater length in the outer side wall.

The container may be formed up and assembled with the article to be enclosed by first bending a length of blank into a loop and fastening the ends together as stated above. The bottom flaps 14 and 14 of the sectors are then bent inwardly at right angles to the outer side wall panels 13 (see Figure 1, bottom sector). With the inner side wall panels 15 and 15 and their flaps 18 and 18 in the same plane as bottom flaps 1'4 and 14' and overlapping fanwise, the article is placed within the upstanding outer side wall panels 13 with their flaps 17 and 17 vertical. When the article has been so placed, the inner side wall panels 15 are bent up and then side wall panels 15' so the latter overlap the adjacent ends of the former. As side wall panels 15 are bent up, their end portions are bent inwardly on creases 21. Flaps 17, 18, 17' and 18 are then bent down as previously explained. When they are secured, the container is completely closed and constitutes a self-sustaining structure with limited flexibility resulting from the hinged and telescoping relation of adjacent sectors. Accordingly it may be rolled on its periphery without damage and absorbs impact when dropped on edge, by partially collapsing and springing back to circular shape, without stressing the sectors individually.

The container of our invention has numerous advantages, some of which have been briefly mentioned. It is strong and durable so as to withstand rough handling and stacking. The blank may be all in one piece or two or 1 3 more sections joined together end to end, and is cheap and easy to form into the finished container. There -is substantially no Waste of paperboard. The container is a easy to handle and may be rolled or carried by hand individually or stacked or palletized inmultiple. "Closing of the container requires only the securing together of the flaps of alternate sector's, since they overlap "and retain the flaps of the remaining sectorsa, While the inventionhas been disclosed as having particular advantages for packaging annular articles, many of such advantages are realized also in'embodirnents of the invention adapted for packaging articles having more 4 to end, said container including an integral outer side wall bent transversely at the junction between adjacent sectors, forming flexible connections between sectors, the

inner side Walls of alternate sectors being telescoped into the endsof adjacent sectors, all said sectors being of trapezoidal shape in plan, alternate sectors having their sides of greater length in the outer periphery of the container and the remaining sectors having their sides of greater length 'in' the inner periphery.

. v2. The container defined in claim 1, characterized by the :inner sides "of :said nemaining sectors being slitted part way inwardly from their ends at the top and bottom edges; I a

Re'fei-eiiees t l iten in the fil'e ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,655,262 Lewis Oct. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 537,281 1 (h-eat Britain June 16, 1941 tim 

